Firearm violence, gun control and small arms

As the global economy continues its slow recovery from the 2008–2009 worldwide recession, armament sales appear to have been one of the few recession-proof export sectors. The greater Middle East has been main emporium for such purchases. While the United States and Russia remain the world's two leading armaments exporters, other countries have also rushed in to fill niche markets, such as small arms, training aircraft and light artillery. Notably, Finland has been... (GunPolicy.org)

As many as 600,000 illegal guns could be circulating in the Australian underworld, but national efforts to control the spread is being hampered by inconsistencies between states, a firearms intelligence report has found.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission report on guns - to be released on Friday, the same day as state and federal government representatives meet to thrash out a way to combat illegal firearms - also backs a national amnesty.
Chris Dawson,... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: The United Kingdom is the second largest exporter of arms. Between 2010 and 2015, the UK has sold weapons worth 10 million pounds to Oman, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates, countries that are classified as "Non-free" by the Freedom House NGO. Other countries that buy from the UK are Saudi Arabia and Israel.]
Le Royaume-Uni est le deuxième plus grand exportateur d'armes du monde sur les 10 dernières années et devant des pays comme la... (GunPolicy.org)

MOSCOW – The Kalashnikov Concern produced 230 percent more small arms weapons in the first quarter of this year than in the year-ago period, the company's press service told RIA Novosti Monday.
"In the first three months of the year we had a record-high volume production of small arms in the amount of 31,000 items, which makes 41 percent of the total output of similar products for 2013," the company said.
"The current results are 230 percent higher than those in the... (GunPolicy.org)

BISHKEK – Authorities in southern Kyrgyzstan detained and prosecuted 12 suspected organised-crime ring members in the first two months of 2014, the Interior Ministry (MVD) said in a statement March 12.
The anti-organised crime police in the south, during January and February, solved 48 crimes, including multiple counts of illegal drug possession and other offences, the MVD said. The police also seized various illegal weapons and reminded the public that citizens who... (GunPolicy.org)

DUSHANBE – On Wednesday January 8, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan began overseeing the destruction of more than a thousand of small arms and light weapons units, including firearms collected from the local population and arms found in caches across various regions of Tajikistan.
According to the OSCE Office, the operation is taking place at the Tajik Interior Ministry's Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Storage and Destruction Facility. The OSCE provided special... (GunPolicy.org)

ASTANA – Kazakhstani citizens this autumn handed in more than 8,500 illegal firearms, almost 800,000 rounds of ammunition, and 50 explosive devices to the police during a weapon buy-back campaign, Tengri News reported December 4, citing the Interior Ministry (MVD).
Police paid 268m KZS (US $1.7m) for the firearms, bullets and explosives. The buy-back ran from September 1 to November 30, the MVD... (GunPolicy.org)

SUGHD, Tajikistan – Police in Sughd Oblast have seized 196 firearms this year, Avesta.tj reported October 30, citing the Sughd Oblast police press office.
Officers seized some of the weapons for lack of firearm permits and others during crime-fighting operations, the police said. Most of the weapons are hunting rifles, police added.
During the same period last year, Sughd Oblast police confiscated 244... (GunPolicy.org)

BISHKEK – Kyrgyz lawmakers June 19 reviewed the third reading of a bill that would bar citizens from carrying guns while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, the parliamentary press office said. Bills require parliamentary approval in three readings before they may reach the president.
The bill, if it becomes law, also would prohibit carrying guns in schools, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, and government buildings, Kenjebek Bokoyev, chairman of the... (GunPolicy.org)

BISHKEK - At least 58 MPs have firearms in the amount of 164 units. Irina Karamushkina, member of SDPK faction stated today at a meeting of the Committee on Ethics and Regulations referring to the Interior Ministry's data.
According to her, four of them are women. "These are honorary and hunting weapons. But I think we should ban carrying of guns in the Parliament building. This object is guarded by officers of the 9th detachment of the State Committee for National... (GunPolicy.org)

A spokesman at Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry has acknowledged that only about half of the small arms that went missing during the country's 2010 political and ethnic violence have been accounted for. The "huge number" of weapons floating about is "enough to carry out another revolution in the country," believes the chairman of parliament's defense and security committee.
Bishkek's 24.kg news agency reported this week that security forces lost about 1,200 small arms... (GunPolicy.org)

KARACHI - There are an estimated 20 million illegal arms in circulation in Pakistan.
This includes serious firepower: law enforcement authorities are increasingly coming under attack from criminals and terrorists armed with heavy weapons such as grenades (including rocket-propelled ones), long-range sniper rifles and machine guns. The volatile situation in Lyari was a case in point, where despite the fact that police were equipped with tank-like armoured personnel... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: With the support of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Brazilian gun manufacturers seek new markets in countries with a history of human rights violations: Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen. Brazil is among the six countries in the world with annual exports exceeding $ 100 million, according to recent research from Small Arms Survey. According to the Army, responsible for supervising and controlling exports from 2005 to... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW DELHI - India plans to fly 20,000 to 30,000 Afghan troops to training bases in India over the next three years and is expanding its presence in Afghanistan as US troops leave.
The US is reportedly eager for more countries to take on part of the US$12 billion (Dh44bn) training bill for the Afghan security forces, and is also running out of time, having set 2014 as the deadline for transferring combat duties to local troops.
With the Afghan government unwilling to... (GunPolicy.org)

British intelligence analyst and journalist Richard M. Bennett says the Fergana Valley is extremely vulnerable to the covert smuggling of arms and drugs, despite the official reports of Central Asian governments denying its highlighted status. Mr. Bennett told JTW that Russia has been responsible for an overwhelming amount of illegal arms circulating in ex-Soviet Central Asia. In his view, Russia's military intelligence (GRU) is the mastermind of major trafficking... (GunPolicy.org)

Libya's rebels appear to be armed in a fairly predictable way. The basis of their armoury seems to come from weapons taken from state stockpiles in battle and from defecting Libyan officers. The literature refers to these as 'battle-captures', or euphemistically, 'leakage'. In Libya's case, it's clearly a flood.
Libya was one of the largest purchasers of conventional military equipment in the developing world in the 1970s and 80s. While the USSR was its main supplier,... (GunPolicy.org)

One year after ethnic violence rocked southern Kyrgyzstan, leaving over 400 dead, gunshot wounds have been established as the main cause of death. Activists believe the country is still awash with firearms, and security experts say weapons are likely to keep featuring in domestic political struggles, especially as officials seek support from gun-toting associates or even arm themselves.
During the violent overthrow of Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April 2010, protestors seized... (GunPolicy.org)

SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan - The trail of the plane seized in Thailand last month for reportedly smuggling North Korean weapons to Iran leads back to a small air freight company housed near an old Soviet airfield on the edge of the Kazakh steppe.
The aging Russian plane's odyssey took it through a web of companies, financiers and air cargo carriers with addresses stretching from New York through the Persian Gulf to New Zealand, an Associated Press investigation has... (GunPolicy.org)

KIEV -- It was no ordinary smuggling bust. On Dec. 11, an old Russian plane landed in Thailand to refuel after taking off hours earlier from Pyongyang, North Korea. In its hull, police found 35 tons of explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles, all being transported from North Korea in breach of U.N. sanctions. The captain and his crew were promptly arrested and charged with illegally transporting arms. But according to experts,... (GunPolicy.org)

KHUJAND — A total of 186 firearms have been seized in (northern) Sughd Region since the beginning of this year.
The regional interior department told the Asia-Plus news agency that 180 pieces of firearms were seized during the same period of the last year.
The source said that the weapons were seized from illegal circulation by police officers and voluntarily handed over by the residents of northern Tajikistan.
"The seized weapons include two assault rifles, one... (GunPolicy.org)

MINSK — Belarusian MPs have agreed to ratify the agreement on cooperation between the CIS member-states in counteracting illegal production and sales of firearms, ammunition, explosive substances and devices.
Belarusian Deputy Interior Minister Syarhey Hureyew said that the agreement was signed on 14 November 2008 in Chisinau by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to ensure effective joint struggle against crime, including... (GunPolicy.org)

During the Karu (Weapon) operation, the police seized 747 weapons kept illegally by people in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Interior Ministry's press service has said.
In particular, the police seized 49 rifled weapons, including 39 rifles and 4 pistols, as well as 547 smooth-bore weapons, including 98 "sawn-off shotguns", says a report issued by the press service today. A total of 40 gas-spray guns, 60 traumatic weapons, 23 home-made weapons and six converted gas-spray guns... (GunPolicy.org)

A total of 60 pieces of illegal firearms have been seized in Almaty during the preventive operation "Karu", Kazakhstan Today news agency reports, with reference to the press service of the Almaty internal affairs department.
According to the press service, during preventive operations codenamed "Karu", the police check all those who posses registered guns, as well as specialized shops and security firms. The so called criminal elements and registered contingent, who... (GunPolicy.org)

BADAKHSHAN, Afghanistan — The bazaar sits on a small island in the middle of the Panj River, the shallow waterway that serves as the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. On either side loom the Pamir Mountains, a range of high peaks that cuts the region off from the rest of the world.
When the bazaar first opened five years ago, people on both sides of the border cheered the opportunity for commerce to flourish between the two countries.
And flourish it has:... (GunPolicy.org)

During a campaign to voluntarily hand in unregistered rifles, pistols and explosives to police in [Kazakhstan's northern] Pavlodar Region, people brought 611 weapons, a Kazinform [news agency] correspondent has reported.
Police valued the arsenal at 3.79m tenge [over 30,000 dollars], Maskhat Yeshmuratov, deputy head of the public security directorate of the [regional] interior affairs department, said. The explosives, which were brought [to police], included a mine... (GunPolicy.org)

A joint CIS database of transnational criminal groups involved in illegal arms trafficking will be created, the press service of the Minsk-based CIS Executive Committee has told Interfax.
"This is stipulated by a draft agreement on cooperation in combating the illegal manufacturing and sale of firearms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices, which has been discussed by the committee's expert group," the press service said.
Chief of the committee's anti-crime... (GunPolicy.org)

The law on buying firearms, ammunition and explosives that are in illegal possession of population, if people voluntarily hand over these weapons, comes into force as of 1 January 2008, the head of the Kazakh Interior Ministry's press service, Bagdat Kozhakhmetov has said.
"With the aim of ensuring public safety and preventing crimes committed with the use of firearms, the law stipulating buying firearms, ammunition and explosives in illegal possession of the... (GunPolicy.org)

Internal affairs officers in [northern] Sughd Region have confiscated 205 firearms from local residents in the first half of this year.
A source in the regional internal affairs directorate told Asia-Plus that the figure was less by 10 compared to the same period of 2006 (215).
The source said that among 205 firearms there were three assault rifles, six pistols, nine rifled-barrel guns and 187 smooth-bore guns.
"Furthermore, six hand grenades and 2,015 various... (GunPolicy.org)

The ousting of President Askar Akaev from power in March 2005 has resulted in a deteriorating security situation and an increase in the demand for and use of small arms in Kyrgyzstan.
The Small Arms Survey study published in 2004 (MacFarlane and Torjesen, 2004) found that small arms were less of a problem in Kyrgyzstan than commonly assumed: few families owned arms; demand was limited; and trafficking was modest. While the proliferation of small arms may pose a... (GunPolicy.org)

BISHKEK — Kyrgyz lawmakers on Thursday approved a law allowing them to possess firearms. Most of the deputies believe that they need arms for self-defense.
Opposition lawmakers repeatedly stated that they had been often threatened by unidentified persons. The law provides for lawmakers' keeping firearms after quitting office.
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev refused to sign the bill several days ago, but the parliamentarians overcame his veto on Thursday.
The issue... (GunPolicy.org)

Businessmen in Kyrgyzstan have welcomed a new law making it legal for them to use weapons to defend their property. However, there are a number of grey areas in the law which NBCentralAsia commentators say need to be defined more clearly — including what actually constitutes property, and what the police and courts should do when a violent incident takes place.
On November 14, the Kyrgyz parliament passed a bill amending current criminal and civil legislation to... (GunPolicy.org)

BAIDOA, Somalia — Somalia's president told residents of the only town his government controls Tuesday that they have a week to give up their weapons or "every single gun" would be seized by force.
President Abdullahi Yusuf said his government would pay people for any arms surrendered and that details of the disarmament plan would be released Wednesday.
He did not say why his government decided on the measure, but two lawmakers have been shot in Baidoa, 155 miles... (GunPolicy.org)

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's virtually powerless government said a cargo plane that landed at the capital's airport Wednesday morning was carrying weapons for Islamic militants who have seized control of much of southern Somalia.
The Ilyushin-76 was only the second aircraft to land at Mogadishu International Airport in more than a decade of anarchy here, demonstrating the Islamic militia's total control of the capital.
A spokesman for the country's official... (GunPolicy.org)

OSH, Kyrgyzstan — The spread of small arms in Kyrgyzstan has become a growing concern for government officials and law enforcement agencies responsible for combating rising crime in the Central Asian state.
"The problem is clear: illegal proliferation of small arms has a tendency to grow. This becomes a threat to public order and results in the growth of criminal incidents and assassinations," said Col. Ravshan Abdukarimov, deputy chief of staff at the Kyrgyz... (GunPolicy.org)

It is commonly believed that Central Asia is awash with arms and that gun possession and trading is linked to other security problems in the region: trafficking in drugs and people, the criminalization of the police and security forces, religious fundamentalism, and ethnic rivalries. One influential report, published in 2002 by the UN's Institute for Disarmament Research, suggested that "the existence of a considerable infrastructure for illicit small-arms trafficking... (GunPolicy.org)

KYRGYZSTAN — A new report counters preconceptions that Central Asia is a "hotbed of gun proliferation and misuse." The study uses Kyrgyzstan as a case study and finds that, despite suffering from socio-economic problems and ethnic tensions, there is little evidence that this has led to increasing violence and gun proliferation. Neil MacFarlane is a professor of international relations at Oxford University in Britain and the co-author of the report, titled "Kyrgyzstan:... (GunPolicy.org)

PRAGUE — A new report counters preconceptions that Central Asia is a "hotbed of gun proliferation and misuse." The study uses Kyrgyzstan as a case study and finds that, despite suffering from socio-economic problems and ethnic tensions, there is little evidence that this has led to increasing violence and gun proliferation.
"Some states are better than others at controlling small arms. But they are nonetheless vulnerable in key issues such as border control. The... (GunPolicy.org)

A new survey on gun ownership in Kyrgyzstan raises questions about widely held assumptions concerning Central Asian security conditions. The study found that guns are less prevalent in Kyrgyz society than previously believed. The findings suggest that Kyrgyzstan should not be lumped together with "its friction-prone neighbors" when considering the potential for conflict in the region.
"Small arms are less of a problem in Kyrgyzstan than commonly assumed; few families... (GunPolicy.org)

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — A report released yesterday by Small Arms Survey, a Geneva based study group, shows that small arms are less prevalent in Kyrgyzstan than in neighboring countries, countering the conventional wisdom that the entire Central Asian region is a hotbed of gun proliferation and misuse.
According to "Kyrgyzstan: A Small Arms Anomaly in Central Asia?", Kyrgyzstan experiences low levels of civilian gun violence, has no major weapons smuggling, and small... (GunPolicy.org)

The international stockpile of small arms continues to grow, according to the latest edition of an annual yearbook, the Small Arms Survey group, based in Geneva. About 7 million mostly civilian small arms are produced annually, far exceeding the amount of arms removed from the weapons supply.
The survey said its estimate of the global value of small-arms production remains unchanged at about US$7.4 billion — with the United States and Russia accounting for more than... (GunPolicy.org)

The UN conference on the problem of proliferation of small arms and light weapons held in New York from July 9-20 ended with the UN member states finally agreeing to a political rather than a legally binding document to deal with the scourge and the impact of the spread of such weapons. This was a conference at which civil society organizations and activists were allowed to lobby. The hope of the non-governmental organizations and individuals was to have a legally... (GunPolicy.org)

ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan, hit by an arms export scandal last year involving MiG-21 jet fighters sold to North Korea, said yesterday it did not know exactly what weapons it owned.
"Unfortunately, up to now we do not have a full inventory and do not know how many arms we own, not to mention what condition they are in," Defense Minister Sat Tokpakbayev told reporters.
His comments were likely to add to Western concerns that Kazakhstan's arms, consisting largely... (GunPolicy.org)